Coming down with style

Pulling off the tricks fills up the Groove Meter which is a multi-sectioned bar on the left of screen. The Groove Meter can be used to give the character a boost of speed by pressing the Z button while carving. This causes the Meter to deplete. The purpose behind the Groove Meter isn't rewarding gamers with boosts though. When the Groove Meter builds up to the third level you are able to execute ?bertricks.

?bertricks are basically over-the-top special moves that earn a ton of points. Executing an ?bertrick is a much different affair than pulling off normal tricks. ?bertricks require the gamer to hold down the A button and then draw one of a set of symbols in the air. If executed correctly the character will start to perform the ?ber drawn. While the idea of drawing symbols in midair may sound appealing, the experience is hit and miss for a lot of people and it can be hard to nail a few in a row. The key here is practice and thankfully EA includes a training area for drawing ?bertricks accessible via the menu. This can be used at anytime, even halfway through an event. Still, even after a good deal of practice, the detection tends to be a bit questionable at times. Hopefully EA will tweak this to perfection by the next entry in the series as the ?bertrick system is really unique in its implementation and is something that makes successfully executing ?bers a more fulfilling experience than ever before.

Events

Events are basically the main features of Career Mode and are the fastest way to gain points and increase your position on the Leaderboard. As previously mentioned, events can either be accessed by navigating to their entrance position or by warp via the menu. Events are ranked challenges, in which you compete against other characters, both directly and indirectly, on one of the mountain's many courses. Some events require you to complete Qualifying Rounds before competing in the Final while others set your eyes on medallions from the offset. There are five different types of events in total.

Race events have you competing against five others in a race to the bottom of the course. These can be incredibly brutal and expect you to be on your game the whole way down. Slopestyle places the emphasis on pulling off a myriad of tricks to garner up as many points as possible. Half-Pipe is a timed event that requires gamers to acquire quick points by achieving big air and pulling of high-scoring tricks in a half-pipe (Half-Pipe events take place in a half-pipe, no way).

Big Air events place you on a section of track that has the potential for some huge air. The focus here is to get as high as possible and execute one or two highly-rewarding combos. These events are over in a heartbeat but are still good fun. Slalom events require you to carve the quickest time down a piece of track. This is only possible by passing to the left of the blue flags and to the right of the red flags scattered around the stretch of mountain. If you end up on the wrong side of a flag you get time added to your run as a penalty.

The game's tournaments are a mix-and-match of the different events featured throughout the game. They take a few different events and place them together in a multi-event tournament. Tournaments are a new, yet welcome, addition to the series. While they can be brutal at times, the tournaments are a great way to test player's abilities across all fronts. Some of the tournaments can go on for quite a while and there being no chance for intersession (other than 'pausing' the game) this may prove to be a problem for some gamers. Completing a tournament requires gamers to score a gold medal in the last event. Tournaments require certain objectives be met before they can be entered, namely access to a certain peak and a certain number of points on the Leaderboard. This prevents gamers from prematurely attacking tournaments and forces them to prove their worth by completing the events.

Blur includes small events known as Challenges which are scattered over the mountain. These can only be accessed and completed by finding them on the mountain and cannot be warped to via the menu. The Challenges are unique in that they require you to complete certain objectives rather than come in 1st place. There are some challenges which pit you head-to-head against another character but the vast majority has you trying to fulfill the requirements solo. Challenges range from jumping through a number of hoops to staying airborne for a certain amount of time. The variety found in the Challenges is something that you won't find throughout the rest of the game. Keep in mind; they aren't called Challenges for nothing. The later Challenges may prove frustratingly difficult for many gamers.

Pick up boosts as you go

Also scattered across the mountain are various collectibles known as ?ber Icons. These are found everywhere when in freeride mode. There are 275 icons in total, some harder to hit than others. Each icon is distinguished by the ?bertrick gesture displayed on it. Collecting 20 icons of the same type will unlock that ?bertrick. This is a difficult task to achieve with some of the icons being very difficult to collect. The perfectionists amongst us will undoubtedly aim for all the collectibles but most gamers probably won't have the determination to get all 275.

Winning events and challenges will unlock certain features. These range from new boards and skis (yup, you can ski in Blur) to new characters. Some of the boards and skis unlocked may give you an advantage in a certain stat while detracting a point from another stat. For example a board may give you a +1 advantage in Speed while giving you a -1 disadvantage in Edge. The game also rewards gamers with permanent stat upgrades after good performances. You may earn a 'gained' attribute point which is automatically assigned to a stat or a 'bonus' attribute point which allows you to choose the stat to upgrade.